


Turing's Test

by C0mpr3h3n51b13



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Codebreaker Pidge, Gen, Military AU, Social Awkwardness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 07:36:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14052081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C0mpr3h3n51b13/pseuds/C0mpr3h3n51b13
Summary: Pidge lost everything in the war.His home, his family, and even a bit of sanity.When a Galra warship crash lands into Alliance territory, Pidge’s entire world is shattered.Takashi Shirogane is in a coma, and in his hands, an unbreakable code.Well.It’s a good thing that Pidge is the greatest codebreaker the Alliance has ever seen.





	Turing's Test

To the normal observer, Pidge Gunnerson was a lunatic.

 

He yelled into thin air at enemies that weren’t there, waving his fists. He drank enough coffee to fill a bathtub, and stayed up when even the most resolute watchmen were sleeping. Pidge’s office was a tornado, full of papers flying every which way and whiteboards filled with numbers and letters that only he could understand.

 

To the last standing empire against Zarkon, the Continental Alliance, Pidge was the best codebreaker they had.

 

“Pidge! Zarkon’s forces sent a new transmission!” Princess Allura’s courier, Coran, would rush in, branshing a stack of papers for Pidge to decode. Each new stack of papers meant another set of sleepless nights, pushing off on an overdue shower even more, and most importantly to Pidge, another couple of days he could avoid human contact. Another day he could not feel like a piece of garbage as he struggles to piece together a coherent sentence. One more day.

 

Of course, being a complete social recluse had its drawbacks. For one, Pidge probably could make all Zarkon’s army collapse by smell alone. Yeah, that shower was really overdue. Also, Pidge sunburned really easily, which was yet another reason to avoid outside and human contact.

 

There were perks to being completely alone, too. Pidge never had to deal with loud roommates and he could order all the video games he wanted from inside his room! As long as the codes broke, of course. Oh, were the codes beautiful.

 

Zarkon seemed to come with a new one each day, and Pidge loved them. They were so elegantly constructed, with layers upon layers, pieces of common knowledge worked in so no computer could crack them. Each one was a work of art, more beautiful than any Picasso. Any artist could come around and paint some flowers, only a genius could create codes like this. Pidge’s favorite part? The creator of the codes always ended the code with their own downfall: the words “Hail Zarkon.”

 

Whenever Pidge received a code, he would count back ten symbols, knowing that they corresponded exactly to those two words. Then, he would work backwards, unravelling the silk strings to decipher the text hidden inside, like those little toys in chocolate shells that Matt would slip him as a kid when he trembled. They would huddle together as the bombs dropped from above like rebellious confetti.

 

Matt was the only person who Pidge truly loved.

 

Matt was the only one who would listen to Pidge’s overly enthusiastic, stuttery rants about code and math and robotics. When Pidge cried because some kid said a mean word to him, Matt would wipe his tears hold him until Pidge stopped crying. When the bombs began to fall and Pidge became scared, Matt would always make funny faces until it was impossible for Pidge to be scared anymore. It wasn’t that Pidge’s father and mother didn’t care about them; they were always busy with whatever they did, leaving Matt to raise Pidge. Before Pidge went to sleep for the night, Matt would always say something to Pidge:

 

“It will be better tomorrow.”

 

Matt was gone now. He had conscripted early with the Ambassador Corps, sent on the first mission to Zarkon with their dad and some other guy. Matt wasn’t gone, but he definitely wasn’t dead. Even if Allura had buried three coffins in their honor, the coffins were still empty. One day, Pidge would decode something, and it would tell him Matt was. He would go in with a gigantic sword, just like the heroes in his games, and explode the person who kidnapped Matt! Then, he would go up the Zarkon, and say:

 

“I am Pidge Gunnerson! You have done evil things, Zarkon, and I will make you pay!” The words would come out big and bold and totally non-awkward, and Matt would come up and thank Pidge for saving him, and his mom would stop crying, and everyone would love him!

 

Well, that probably wasn’t going to happen, but Pidge could hope in the meantime.

 

Pidge lowered himself into his rumpled bed, a sense of satisfaction flowing through him. The code today had been especially hard, using a strange urban dialect of Zarkonian. (The pompous asshole had named a whole language after himself.) Sleep drifted in as soft as cat’s fur. Only a few seconds later, the lights snapped on, white hot and blinding. Pidge screeched, throwing himself out of bed. He stumbled to his feet, flailing about all the while.

 

“Graceful today, aren’t we, Pidge,” Coran said. Curse that man and his unintentionally hilarious accent! Pidge heard footsteps coming towards him, and he instinctively backed away from the scary noise.

 

“C’mon, get changed out of that pikachu onesie, take a shower, and get in dress uniform. Allura wants to see you.” Wait - Allura was the head honcho, wasn’t she? Why would she want to see someone like Pidge?

 

Once Pidge’s perpetual bedhead flattened down into something even Coran deemed acceptable, Pidge fidgeted outside the door of Allura’s office. Pidge hated the dress uniform; it hung loosely off his small frame.

 

“Well, off you go then!” Coran slid open the door. Pidge stared at him for a moment, before snapping out of it and stepping into the office.

 

Allura’s office seemed like something out of a magazine; not even the dust dared settle there. The harsh sunlight was dimmed by soft yellow shades, for which Pidge was eternally grateful. Flowers stood in a tastefully colorful bunch on the polished desk, and Pidge had a sudden urge to go up and stroke one of the petals. It all seemed so perfect, that Pidge almost missed the woman sitting at the desk.

 

She was as tidy as her office, with every silver hair pulled into place by a tasteful circlet. On anyone else, it would be gaudy, but it seemed fitting for her. She had an air of regality that Pidge reflexively submitted to. Pidge felt sweat beading on his brow, and saluted, but the motion felt stiff.

 

“Wrong hand, codebreaker,” Allura corrected, and Pidge quickly switched to the other hand. Pidge heard a soft snicker in the hallway, and Pidge flushed. He knew it was embarrassingly visible on his vampire-pale skin.

 

“At ease.” Pidge relaxed, plopping down into the overstuffed chair in front of Allura’s desk.

 

“You are Pidge Gunnerson, correct?” Allura asked, and Pidge nodded because his mouth was too dry to say anything to this beautiful, mythical creature. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

 

“Like what?” Pidge blurted out before his head could grasp his words, and he regretted it immediately. Allura seemed to take it all in stride.

 

“You’re the best codebreaker we have, for one. That leads me right to my point.” Allura leaned forward, and Pidge felt like she was sharing something secret with him, something important and wonderful. “You know of the Kerberos Diplomacy Mission?” Pidge nodded, and his mouth went dry. His heart seemed to skip a beat. She didn’t know. She couldn’t know that Katie Holt was in front of her.

 

“This is highly classified information, Codebreaker Gunnerson." Allura glanced around like she was expecting someone to jump out from the portraits. "One of the three on the mission made it back alive.” Pidge felt his heart rise high, higher than the moon and all the stars combined.

 

“Which one?” Pidge asked, fidgeting.

 

“The pilot, Takashi Shirogane escaped from the Zarkon Empire.” Pidge shattered. Then, he slowly began to collect he pieces as they realized that maybe, just maybe this stranger knew where Matt was.

 

“Why do you need me?” Pidge asked. Allura smiled, as if she had been waiting for him to ask this all along.

 

“Shirogane had a USB drive in his hand, and on it, an unsolvable code. Our computers have spent weeks on this thing.” Allura smiled sweetly. “Pidge, you’re the codebreaker that does the impossible. We need you to crack this code.” Allura held up a small, battered USB drive. Pidge grinned. He stood up triumphantly, reached out for the USB, and promptly knocked over all the flowers on Allura’s desk.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This was a little thing I made awhile back inspired by Lowah's Voltron Military AU, here's a link to their stuff: http://lowaharts.tumblr.com/vldmau I don't think there's going to be continuation, but you never know. Any feedback, critique, or comments would be appreciated, I'm always trying to improve! Have a nice day! :D


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